My story begins late one night in December 2008. I’d just come home from a long and wonderful trip to Bhutan, Nepal and India and was in the midst of moving in with a man I’d met and fallen in love with two summers before. We’re both in good health, exercise regularly and keep our diet on the light side. But this night we’d been out to a fancy restaurant. We were in a high mood, planning a celebration for our 70 and 75th birthdays as one big party in February. A few hours after I’d gone to sleep, an intense cramping in my lower left side awakened me. My abdomen was bloated. My stomach felt hard as a rock. I couldn’t lie still so I stood up. I immediately bent over in pain. Feeling pretty weak I supported myself with the back of a bedroom chair. Sitting or lying down felt worse. That night, I walked around and around and around the living room wondering what was wrong and what to do. I’d suffered digestive discomfort for years but never anything like this. It was logical to believe I’d picked up a bug in India. As I walked, I took GasX. About ten minutes later, I felt better and was able to go back to sleep. I thought that was the end of it but it was just the beginning.

I’m a psychologist who hears many clients describe digestive discomfort, especially after a meal out in a restaurant. I’ve listened to many women describe similar nightly walkabouts in which all they could do was wait for gastrointestinal pain to subside. One woman told me her mother had been having attacks for years and tried every home remedy and medical prescription in the book with no sustainable relief. It’s common to hear people report getting so frightened by the pain that they believe they’re having a heart attack. They go to an ER, lay around on a gurney for hours and come home with a diagnosis of indigestion. Still, since the pain was extreme, I called my internist the next day and got an appointment a few days later. He sent me for scans of my liver, kidneys, gall bladder and esophagus, gave me an ECG in his office and prescribed Prevacid for indigestion. All the tests came back normal.

But nothing was normal. I continued to have severe digestive discomfort and painful spasms every few nights. I searched the Internet hoping to understand my symptoms better. I kept coming up with GERD (gastro esophageal reflux disease) and IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). Each search described many of my symptoms but there was little mention of the pressure from gas that I was experiencing or the pain. I saw a nutritionist who was convinced that my gall bladder was malfunctioning. Her dietary recommendations didn’t work but she heightened my awareness of the importance of diet. In particular, I learned that carbohydrates produce gas and overeating at any particular meal puts extra stress on the stomach. I started a low carb diet and ate small frequent meals. I also stopped eating anything after six pm. Even though my alcohol habit consisted of little more than a glass of wine with dinner, I stopped drinking any alcohol. A glass of wine seemed to set off a spasm. Same with my morning cup of coffee. Taking these measures slowed down how often I experienced these episodes of intense pain but did not affect the intensity once one got rolling. Modifying my eating habits certainly helped but didn’t solve the problem.

Next I saw a gastroenterologist who was convinced I had SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). He prescribed Xyfaxan, an antibiotic that targets bacteria in the intestine in order to restore proper balance and cease pain caused by spasms of the gut. I did several series of this antibiotic over the next months. The third, pulling out all stops, was for three weeks. He also prescribed Levsin, an antispasmodic medication. The antibiotics seemed to lessen the frequency of occurrences and the Levsin was a godsend. My symptoms were increasing and the episodes becoming more frequent, more unpredictable. It’s hard to describe how disturbing it was to be clueless about when an episode might occur. If I had an afternoon of clients, I ate a light breakfast with no carbs and skipped lunch. It was the only way I could be sure I wouldn’t crash in the middle of a session with a client. With Levsin in my pocket, I felt more in control but when I wanted to be sure I wouldn’t get an attack I just didn’t eat.

Oddly, when I was fine, I was fine and that was most of the time. Difficult to predict, symptoms often came out of the blue and while very intense, passed within minutes. I learned that I could avert an episode by taking Levsin at the first sign of symptoms and even stop a rising spasm on its way to full bloom if I acted quickly. Because Levsin worked and because the antibiotics seemed to be working, I had confidence that the GI doctor knew what he was doing and felt confident he would solve the problem. I began to keep a journal of what I was eating and when I had symptoms. Eating carbs and eating too much at one meal continued to be major culprits. They led to gas, bloating, abdominal cramping, heartburn and scratchy throat. As months passed, I sometimes felt an intense pressure pushing on my diaphragm and rising to the center of my chest. I sometimes felt a hot spot behind my sternum, pain in one or both arms and soreness under my ears. I took Levsin everywhere with me. On a walk, to the movies, to bed.

Adding to my difficulties, I felt depressed, tired and annoyed. So many interactions in life revolve around food. “Let’s get together for lunch” became a challenge. Not being able to eat freely meant playing a game when we went out with friends. I began a blind man’s game of not seeing food on the table, on my plate or on a menu in order to enjoy myself. At least in California where I live, restaurants are used to people customizing their meals but I only had one diet I knew worked. When it didn’t fit the occasion, I cancelled. It’s an education to notice how central food is to so many ordinary things we do in a day. Being so restricted often secretly stole the fun out of a get together for me but I couldn’t risk a build-up of pressure.

On occasion, symptoms got started and subsided on their own. But mostly, the only thing that made a spasm bearable was Levsin. GasX always helped. Sometimes Gaviscon or Prevacid helped. I tried PPI acid suppressors (proto pump inhibitors) but with little reliable effect. On my low carb diet, I lost weight, 20 lbs from 138 to 118 in eight months. In a society where “one is never too thin”, I was looking good and getting lots of compliments but I did not feel good. It’s one thing to modify life to live around symptoms, another to think of living with an imposed restriction day in and day out for the rest of my life. As time wore on without a diagnosis, I began to think the painful episodes were here to stay.

My spasms felt like contractions in childbirth, horribly intense but subsiding in minutes. Resolved to their intrusion, at least I knew they would end. Like a woman giving birth, I went with the pain, breathed as rhythmically as I could and held the faith that I could get through it. I leaned against a couch, a fence or a wall depending on where I was when they happened. Since I felt like a pregnant woman with too much pressure on her stomach, I slept on a wedge to keep my head elevated to alleviate weight on my digestive tract. Keeping my upper body elevated while I slept helped me feel better but it didn’t prevent pressure from building up. Sometimes I woke up in the middle of a nightmare dreaming that I was being strangled or crushed or worse. To combat this invisible foe, I did everything I could, but to no avail.

Since I believed my symptoms were clues, I described them numerous times to numerous doctors, each with a different specialty, hoping one of them – internist, nutritionist, cardiologist, gastroenterologist and holistic md – would recognize what I could only sense. I kept asking questions, kept looking to them for answers. What’s causing all this? Where’s all the gas coming from? If it’s acid reflux, GERD and/or IBS, why doesn’t elimination of the usual culprits – gluten, dairy products, chocolate, wheat, red meat and alcohol – make a difference? If it’s SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), why aren’t the antibiotics working? And, bottom-line, how does pressure from intestinal gas cause a cramp in my chest? Since my problems started the week after I came back from a trip to India, doctors and friends joined me in speculating that I’d brought back an obscure bug. That added to the mystery but it still didn’t explain how indigestion was related to spasms.

Did I take tests? Of course. Blood tests, electrocardiograms (ECG), scans and scopes of the upper and lower GI tract. They ruled out esophageal problems, gall bladder, liver and kidney problems, heart problems – or so I thought. Did I follow doctor’s instructions? Of course. Three rounds of intestinal antibiotics. Did I talk to people? Of course. Smartest friends in the room. Everyone had their own experience and/or someone close to them who had similar symptoms. They also had lots of advice. Apparently, there are millions of Americans suffering from chronic bouts of indigestion that they’re treating with billions of dollars of digestive aids. But no one pieced together the combination of symptoms I was describing into a diagnosis.

To add to my confusion about what was happening and, in hindsight, to the hidden danger of a missed diagnosis, I had a para-thyroidectomy in December 2008. I had been diagnosed with parathyroid dysfunction during an annual checkup with my internist before my trip to India. There was some speculation about whether it could be a cause of my digestive discomfort. Not likely but a possibility. Apparently faulty calcium regulation can contribute to digestive problems. The surgery required – of course – blood tests and another ECG. Fortunately (especially in hindsight), I flew through the surgery with flying colors. But it further confused the picture. After my calcium levels were restored, I enjoyed an upsurge of energy. When I was not actually experiencing an episode or its aftermath the next day, I felt better than I had in years.

Incidentally, in January 2009, I saw a cardiologist. It was a routine visit, like seeing a gynecologist. It was simply part of my overall pursuit of greater health appropriate to my age. My cholesterol levels were a bit high (LDL 120) and I was considering statins. I did, of course, describe my symptoms to him, including the fact that I was seeing a GI doctor. During the exam, he thought he noticed a murmur and recommended I get a stress-echo test to complete my work up. “Nothing urgent”, he assured me. Nothing that couldn’t wait until after a spring trip my partner and I were planning to Paris. In fact, none of my doctors expressed any caution about traveling for six weeks out of the country or any urgency regarding any other tests.

In August 2009 – after eight months of mind-numbing episodes of pain — I did find the answer. Persistent questioning – and, I believe, lady luck was on my side. We came home from Paris mid-June and I made an appointment to complete my cardiology workup with a stress echo test at the first opportunity. That would be August 7. By this time I was afraid my digestive difficulties were burdening my heart. I thought I might not be able to complete the stress echo well enough for accurate results. But by August, I was a pro at dealing with my attacks and felt confident I could get through it even if I felt one coming on. Exertion at this time was the least of my concerns.

Even though I knew that going up a steep sidewalk, swimming 4 short laps in a row or spending ten minutes on the elliptical trainer could arouse symptoms signaling the likelihood of an attack, I could work around it. I’d learned to pace my walking, slow down my exercising and not lift anything heavy. On the stress echo treadmill, it didn’t surprise me that I was fine for 4 ½ minutes, 134 heartbeats. At that point I began to feel the usual pressure in my stomach, a light-headedness, pain behind my ears and a desperate need to rest. I’d been told 138 heartbeats was the target so when the monitor flashed a red 141, I figured I’d more than accomplished the target. I gasped for breath and asked the nurse, “Is that it? Can I stop now?” And she answered, “Only if you want to.” She didn’t bat an eyelash at my obvious distress. I’ve since discovered that people like to challenge the treadmill when they take the test so I guess that’s what she was used to. Then I did what I usually did when I was faced with an imminent attack. I calmed myself down. I breathed, meditated and thought pleasant thoughts while the nurse scurried around getting her numbers.

I was completely unaware of what had just happened. Customary for me, by the time I got to the waiting room, I felt fine. In this case, I felt pleased that I’d recovered without taking a Levsin. As I waited for the cardiologist, I was in a good mood, sure that – one more time – the test showed nothing definitive. My blood test numbers looked better than ever. They had all dropped dramatically from the year before. Total Cholesterol — 202 (from 247), Triglycerides — 61 (from 95), HDL 79 (108), LDL 111 (from 120). Clear proof that diet can affect your cholesterol — in case you had any doubt!

This was Friday afternoon. I was reading these results when the cardiologist came in. I was fully expecting a smile on his face. Instead, the look on his face was dead serious. He was very careful with his words. His words. “You have angina. Your reaction to the stress echo test is one of the most extreme we’ve had here in quite awhile.” My brain. “Is this something new, different or related to my problem?” He wanted to schedule me for an angioplasty as soon as possible. He asked me “Were you frightened while you were taking the stress-echo?” Wryly I answered, “No, I’ve felt similar spasms hundreds of times since December.” I had no idea what he was talking about. He was the first person to mention the word ‘angina’. First to indicate that I should be very concerned, even alarmed. He scheduled an angioplasty for Monday. I had a vague idea of what an angioplasty was but I had no grasp on angina. I certainly wasn’t thinking what I should’ve been thinking. ‘Good grief, I’m lucky I’m not dead.’

The cardiologist knew, of course, what I didn’t know – that the angina I had experienced on the treadmill was a life threatening aspect of blockage of the arteries in my heart. He continued to talk while I continued to blur. He assured me that the beta-blockers and nitroglycerin he was prescribing would, as he put it, “make sure I got through the weekend without an incident”. After not worrying for months, I now had to fret the weekend? Blur. As it turned out (and as usual), I had attacks both nights. And I used the nitroglycerin both times and it worked very quickly. I guess the good and the bad of the nitroglycerin was that it worked. It was evidence that the condition of my heart was the root cause of my painful episodes.

Fear blocked the big picture, distracting me from the warning my body was giving me that something very serious was wrong. Pain swept me off, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, into a foreign land of medical expertise desperately in search of an answer to my symptoms. For eight long months, I had been swept away by a tornado of puzzling pain into the medical specialty of gastroenterology. As much trust as I’d put in the wizards of medicine, as conscientiously as I’d sought answers from them to show me the way home to health, the man behind the curtain didn’t have the answers.

Now, after the fact, I’ve learned that the information my doctors needed for a differential diagnosis for a woman has been all but excluded from medical research until recently. According to Harvard Health Letter (Vol. 34, 9/09), medical research on heart disease has steadfastly overlooked women because maleness has been considered the top risk factor. There is precious little published, even for doctors, indicating that gastrointestinal distress is a possible much less definitive symptom of heart disease in women. Furthermore, according to the same Harvard Health Letter, even when diagnosed, a woman still must be “a little more aggressive in getting the care” she needs. I can attest that I passed from doctor to doctor in Los Angeles, seeing some of the best doctors in the country without arousing the slightest expression of urgency about what they were seeing and hearing.

Medically speaking, I had angina pectoris. The spasms radiating to my arms finally made sense. After the fact, everyone seemed to know that angina causes pain when the heart experiences competition for its oxygen from digestion. I can’t imagine what would’ve been required to alert anyone of my doctors to imminent danger while I was traveling the yellow brick road of doctor’s appointments. What more could I have done? I even had an attack during an appointment with the GI doctor. As it was, the diagnosis did not get made until after I nearly set off a heart attack during a routine stress echocardiogram. Who were these doctors seeing in their examination room?

Angina is dangerous. It typically sets in motion a quadruple by-pass. I was diagnosed on a Friday, went in for angioplasty on Monday. In an extraordinary procedure that is now so standard it takes your breath away, a surgeon weaved a little camera up through an artery in my groin to my heart and discovered a 90% blockage. Instantly, he inserted a stent. Saved my life. That’s the only way to say it. I was very very lucky. Any untoward event. Any slight fender bender. A heated argument. Sudden anxiety. Traumatic surprise event – to me, a member of my family or one of my friends. Any unexpected stress that would’ve demanded more than 10% flow to my heart and I’d be dead. It’s a humbling thought.

The first thing my friends say when they hear my story is “That’s great. You’re going to be fine now.” And then there’s a pause, a second take. The next thing they say is ‘Ohmigawd, 90% blockage, you could be dead. That’s weird. How could your doctors miss that?’

I know I tell a harrowing truth that’s hard to believe. No one, not one doctor, friend or family member ever mentioned the word ‘angina’ to me in eight months of suffering. Angina was not in anyone’s vocabulary. Angina was never mentioned until my cardiologist said the word to me after the stress echocardiogram, a test ordered because he’d thought he heard a slight murmur in my earlier exam. Maybe my heart was murmuring to him, telling us to check out my heart and discover the angina behind my digestive distress.

Further in the ‘believe it or not’ department and to my complete delight, I’ve experienced a complete erasure of digestive distress since my angioplasty. All of my digestive problems have cleared up. I can eat anything I want. Drink wine and indulge in desert. My choice for the first time in almost a year.

But more important. Missing the diagnosis was extremely dangerous. Angina is as close as you can come to having a heart attack without having one. Angina is a build-up of plague in an artery of the heart – called atherosclerosis – that interferes with blood flow. Angina attacks don’t kill heart muscle but angina is a ticking bomb, ready to set off a heart attack with just the right amount of pressure – from stress, exertion, excitement. I’ve run across an impressive anecdote about angina written in 1790. Before the tests of modern medicine, Dr. John Hunter showed himself to be an astute observer of his own angina pectoris when he wrote, “My life is in the hands of any rascal who chooses to annoy or tease me.” What he knew is that an imbalance between the metabolic demands of the heart and the adequacy of one’s coronary circulation to provide oxygen causes pain. I wish I had had his insight. I experienced surges of physical symptoms when I got angry, upset or frightened or ate too much but I had no inkling what it meant. Now I know, angina interferes with the flow of blood when we need it the most. Not during an ECG when the heart’s at rest. If my heart had needed more than 10% blood flow to deal with a sudden jolt of fear, heavy lifting or – as with the stress echo – running, I’d have had a heart attack.

Time to ask the big question. But before I do, I’d like to make a qualifying statement. Even though it’s clear to me, after the fact, that my doctor’s lack of insight endangered my life, I’d like to make it clear that I’m not blaming my doctors for missing my diagnosis. I’m grateful for their continued concern and, ultimately, thankful for to their expertise. As I said, they saved my life. But why didn’t the absence of a source for the relentless distress I was experiencing arouse a sense of urgency in my doctors?

Recent news headlines about being in charge of your own health care have taken on new meaning for me. Here are some thoughts to ponder, more frightening than they seem when one’s life is at stake.

1) It’s no secret that there’s a breakdown in the health system that doesn’t encourage communication between specialties. I don’t have statistics but, as in my case, it could be critical if lady luck isn’t on your side. My cardiologist believed I was in good hands for digestive distress and stayed his course until a stress echo that put me squarely in his ballpark. When my GI doctor tapped the bottom of his bag of tricks, he didn’t have a policy directive to pick up the phone and call my cardiologist even though he was seeing symptoms indicating a crossover. My internist, persistent and conscientious, is not a coordinator of services.

2) Medical training is not oriented to educate patients as partners in finding a diagnosis. Yet patients need help now. We need to know how to go beyond the walls of a particular specialty. Even my ability to ask in-depth relevant ‘doctor to doctor’ questions did not uncover my diagnosis. Not one of my doctors expressed the need for a stress echocardiogram. Though I’d seen the cardiologist initially in January, his response was routine. My internist, who I saw often, first in December and last in June, mentioned in passing “if you’d like to move your appointment (for the stress echo) up from August, you probably could.” I took that to mean the stress-echo was one more elimination test.

3) Where does the fabric of integrity underlying the medical field as a whole come into action? My GI doctor, with whom I was in continuous contact, agreed with my plan to finish up my cardiac workup after I got back from France. But he expressed no sense of urgency and no possible explanation of how my heart might be related to my digestive problems. Is that an appropriate end to his responsibility? Did he suspect a connection between digestion and the heart and not say so? Or if not, why not? If the patient is the lynch pin, the only one carrying information from specialty to specialty, they need education as much as elimination to find a diagnosis.

True, I didn’t fit the picture for Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). I had no markers, as they call the signs of CHD in medical circles. My numbers are good. I’m a happy 70 year old in a relationship, slim and in general good health. I stretch, walk, and workout daily. I’ve followed a fairly good diet for years. And I had my heart checked. I’d had two ECG’s. I’d had surgery, a high heart stressor. And I’d seen a cardiologist. I also felt fine when I wasn’t having an attack. No doctor objected to my taking a long trip out of the country even though we didn’t know what was causing my problem. No one explained I might need more than an ECG – or insist on a stress echocardiogram or a nuclear cardiogram, the tests that take pictures of your heart in action and when increased blood flow is needed – to determine whether my heart was okay. Even the idea that blood flow might be related to my spasms and/or digestive problems did not enter the equation until after the fact.

It seems more important than ever to see oneself as a detective hot on the trail of your own case. Or, a Dorothy who has pulled back the curtain and knows a doctor is just a person, not a god. It’s pretty much a medical fact these days that each doctor who sees you looks from their own particular specialty and that there’s little crossover from one specialty to another. As I heard one cardiologist put it “When you’re a hammer, everything you see is a nail”. Makes it not only good but necessary, I believe, to track your own clues. As if you were finding fingerprints, you can identify a pattern running through one appointment after another even when logic is missing and everyone is looking in the wrong direction. As hidden as it may be, a magical through line exists. On the road, a tin man without a heart, a scarecrow without a brain, a lion without courage all became more than when they started. Even though nothing made sense, I persisted, never lost my curiosity and, in the end, I found the answer. Like a murder mystery without the murder, my tale would make a captivating adaptation of the Wizard of Oz.

The moral of my story? Don’t hand over your ruby red shoes. Doctors are ordinary people. It has to make sense to you before it makes any sense at all. Put angina in your vocabulary alongside heart attack and stroke. No reason to wait and wonder if your heart might be the heart of the matter. Check it out. Don’t wait for your doctor to tell you it’s urgent. And don’t settle for a test that won’t give you the full picture of your heart at work. It’s when it has to go to work that your life depends on it.

I’ve lived my life citing a couple mantras. One from Bob Dylan — “Those not busy being born are busy dyin’.” Another from Yevgeny Yevtusheko — ‘Don’t die before you’re dead’. I’ve never had my life saved before. Now death is more than a metaphor. Perhaps old age is the age of miracles. Or at least the profound realization of life as miracle. Take it to heart. Literally.

By Jane Alexander Stewart, Ph.D.

Sagging could be the worst thing that can happen to the appearance of the breasts of the female. Men have different points of view where the beauty in breasts is concerned – some men like big breasts, some like small ones, some like the rounder ones, while some like the more subtle breasts with less tissue. But one thing is certain: no man likes sagging breasts. This is why women with sagging breasts lose their confidence and try to seek immediate remedies to correct this condition.

Breasts could sag due to various reasons. In most women the sagging is simply an indication of advancing age. As the woman grows older, the tissues that hold the breast upright lose their strength, which makes the breasts to droop downwards. Women who have undergone a pregnancy and childbirth also may have sagging breasts. During pregnancy, the size of most women’s breasts increases. Due to the extra weight in the breasts, the sag could develop. This also happens when the woman feeds her baby after the birth. When the baby suckles on the breast, it has a tendency to pull the breast downwards. This could make the breast droop permanently downwards, causing sagging breasts.

Sagging of breasts is a very common condition in women with big breasts. Due to the sheer weight of these breasts, they may droop downwards and cause very prominent sag. It is seen that women who have undergone breast augmentation surgeries and increased the size of their breasts by more than two cup sizes could find the breasts too big for their bodies. Gravity could pull the breasts downwards.

However, the sagging of breasts is not such a big problem as it once used to be. With the advancement of cosmetic medical techniques, today there are several options to get the sagging condition of breasts remedied. The breast uplift surgery is one of the common enhancement surgeries being used by women all over the world. In this surgery, the surgeon would try to bring the nipple back to the center position on the breast and then reassign the correct position to the tissues of the breast. The skin around the breast is tautened in order to give the breast a firmer and well-toned look.

However, just going in for breast uplift surgery would be hardly enough for a woman who seeks better breasts. Breast uplift surgery could bring the breasts back into position, but it would not make the breasts any bigger. For this reason, most women who go for breast uplift surgery supplement it with a breast augmentation surgery also. The surgeon inserts implants into the breasts in order to increase their bulk and then performs the breast uplift. The result is bigger and better breasts, something that the woman might not have had even in her youth.

There are some common problems with the breast uplift surgery. The breasts do sit in within a day or two, but the intermediate period could be a very uncomfortable one for most women, as this is the time when they will be adjusting to the change in their anatomies. The implants would make the chest feel heavier and somewhat awkward for a couple of days. Also, women are forbidden from indulging in any sort of activity that involves the chest for several weeks after the surgery. There could be undue exertion on the newly dislocated muscles, which could also lead to internal bleeding. However, once this phase of adjustment is past, women could see themselves in a new light and feel sexier and a whole lot younger.

If you are looking out for getting some remedies for your sagging breasts, then you need to be warned about some of the ineffective methods in the market. One of them is the various creams, sprays and such supplements which promise to give you better breasts. Though these methods are not harmful to the breasts, there is no guarantee that they would cure the sagging breasts. Such supplements might work for toning the breasts, but it is not proven whether they would correct the sagging of the breasts.

Similarly, exercises don’t work with sagging breasts. Breasts are largely composed of fatty tissue. Exercise can help building up the muscle, but it cannot do anything with fatty tissue. Chest exercises can improve the chest muscles and hence make the breasts sit better on the chest. This will make the breasts settle better on the chest. However the effect will not be that much. But it is advisable to perform chest improvement exercises before the breast uplift surgery as that could show better effects.

So if you are suffering from sagging breasts, do not despair. A vast majority of women all over the world are suffering from this problem. Keep in mind that there is a way out of the problem if you ever need one. In the meantime, indulge in good sexual activity, have a good diet and do chest improvement exercises. You will be on your way to getting a better bust and a better life.

It goes without saying that the majority of fitness professionals discourage you from spot-training any one particular area for exercise or weight loss. However, bestselling author Tim Ferriss makes a strong case in favor of kettlebell exercises for women who want to get a bigger butt.

Having previous experience (and little interest) of kettlebell training, Ferriss was reintroduced to the power of the workouts over a meal in Buenos Aires, Argentina with someone he dubs “The Kiwi.” Holding a BSE in exercise physiology, The Kiwi saw a professional Brazilian samba dancer balance tequila shots on top of each butt cheek.

Inspired, the Kiwi performed an experiment in kettlebell training on his then-Chinese girlfriend on the art of “perfecting the female posterior.” Within 4 weeks, the girlfriend, a woman with a “surfboard” body, became one of the top ten sexiest girls at her school at the University of Auckland. She was literally bombarded by fellow students who wanted to know what she did to pull her butt so high on her hamstrings. The answer was kettlebell training, specifically swings.

Kettlebell Swings for a Sexier, Higher Butt

Whether or not you plan on balancing tequila shots on your butt, it’d be nice to, wouldn’t it? Today’s most popular fitness programs feature intense workouts that provide maximum results in record time. For women, especially women who want to get an hourglass figure, kettlebell exercises happen to be one of the most popular trends right now.

“By swapping ineffective cardio for shorter, more intense bursts of kettlebell activity, you rev the metabolism like crazy,” says Caroline Radway, kettlebell fitness expert. “You preserve lean muscle, blast fat, and keep your body burning calories for hours after you’ve finished.”

Here are directions for performing kettlebell swings that will help you get a bigger butt:

• Stand with your feet between 6 to 12 inches apart on either side.
• Place the kettlebell six inches in front of you on the floor.
• Use both your hands to get a good grip on the handle. Without standing up, hike the kettlebell back and up behind you between your legs. You should feel as if you’re about to sit back on a chair.
• Come to a complete stand, popping your hips forward with the assistance of the kettlebell’s momentum. Allow the momentum to guide your body to swing back into a hinge position as you repeat the movement.

Tips for Effective Kettlebell Swings

Avoid rounding your back. Keep your shoulders retracted (pulled back).

Do not squat. The movement is not supposed to be a squat. It’s supposed to feel more like you’re about to sit down on the edge of a seat.

Imagine that you’re pinching a penny between your butt cheeks when popping your hips. This creates a forceful pop that engages your gluteal (butt) muscles even more. “If your dog’s head gets in the way, it should be lights out for Fido,” says Ferriss.

As you can see, you can get a bigger butt using kettlebell exercises for women, but you can’t expect an immediate overnight transformation, especially if you’re not using proper form. Consider investing in a few kettlebell training sessions to learn proper form so that you execute moves flawlessly to maximize your results and minimize your chances of injury.

To understand why distance energy healing is an effective and complementary therapy it is helpful to have background information about human evolution and the physics of the world we live in. This article is long, so if you are not interested in the physics of healing you can skip ahead to another section of interest.

Universal Life Cycle

In late 2011, a trio of scientists discovered that since the big bang happened, the universe is expanding at an increasing pace, not decreasing like previously thought! As long as the expansion is increasing in speed, all life encompassed by the universe is subject to a ‘growing force’. When expansion stops, the big life cycle of this universe will be mature, reproduction of the universe will occur and after this, the universe will start to break down and collapse back upon itself in the dying process. This life cycle of birth, growing, maturity, reproduction, decline and death is seen in every life form on earth. Increasing pace means all objects are vibrating faster and are subject to increased vibration each year. This is seen in our sun, which grows hotter and puts out more energy each year. We all know that without the sun nothing would grow, which includes us as we are growing too. When we look at earth’s fossil record, we see that life has been subject to this growing force for millions of years and there have been many growth cycles and metamorphosis of new species over time.

The Growing Force

The growing force is something scientists cannot yet categorize, but it is likely equivalent to the large invisible portion of the universe known as dark energy, which makes up seventy percent of the universe. Only five percent of the universe is visible with objects such as the earth, stars down to atomic level and the other twenty-five percent of the universe is composed of dark matter. I feel dark energy contains the growing force like invisible light and is the source of the conscious intelligence that is present in all living forms. It cannot be seen because it has no form, as it is pure energy. I liken it to the energy of our creator.

An interesting fact of physics is “objects gain mass by moving through space”. This means the growing force is causing all objects to gain mass, which includes us. From Einstein’s famous equation of E=mc², energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared. As objects gain mass their energy increases and they vibrate faster. If you already understand you are eternal and cannot be destroyed, this means your vibration and mass are increasing with each successive lifetime you have experienced, because we move through space while living in a physical body.

Our Physical Reality

Physical life is not what it appears on the surface. The reality is all objects we can see and feel are mostly composed of space. From Nova’s Fabric of the Cosmos Series Greene stated: “Matter is mostly empty space. If you take out the space and the mass of the Empire State Building, it would condense to the size of a super-heavy grain of rice.” The universe is ninety-five percent invisible space and the same is true of us. That invisible space contains our soul and dark energy, which is intelligent and indestructible. This space gives us insight, creativity, physical form and allows healing to occur in our bodies. Our solid aspect is our visible physical manifestation, but is only temporary and death will eventually transform it. Our energetic aspect is eternal and cannot be destroyed. All materials and forces of the universe are within our bodies. We are part of the universe and thus subject to the same laws of physics that affect objects. Spirituality is the intelligent consciousness that is present in all life and is the center of all the forces of physics. It is the unifying force between the quantum world and world of relativity, that physicists cannot find and we are one with it. This force cannot be detected by observing physical forms. It can only be located by dropping our identification with physical reality and being still. When we are totally still, we are one with this force and we can know it.

The Universal Sea that Connects Us as One

Dark energy is like a continuous invisible fluid that fills all the space and interstices between all particles. Because it has no solid particles and is pure energy, no object can shield from being saturated by it. It is everywhere, always present and intelligent. This energy is capable of receiving, propagating and communicating all impressions of movement. It is comparable to the vehicle of transport of information between objects in the universe. Because dark energy permeates everything, effectively there is no distance between any physical object in space and communication and transport of information happens instantly. We actually exist in a fluid world, like fishes in the sea, where any movement of a fish affects all other fish in the sea. Because of this universal fluid, we are able to approach each other, withdraw, communicate, and be connected to each other. This fluid connects us together as one entity and is the mechanism for our reciprocal relations. It is consciousness itself.

What is Time?

Human time is a convenience to reference happenings of the past, present and future. It exists as a memory and reference point about something that physically happened in the universe. The passage of time is a sign of universe expansion due to the growing force. If we were past the point of universe expansion, we would no longer be growing and matter would be dissolving. Then we would see the effect of ‘reverse-time’ or going backwards in time. When you merge fully with dark energy by being entirely still then time stands still and effectively ceases to exist. The standstill of time is the same phenomena known to happen if you could travel at the speed of light. This happens because dark energy is the growing force and when you stop moving you are one with it and thus no movement is detected. An interesting ‘spiritual fact’ about time is all times exist at the same time. Any specific ‘time’ can be referenced and accessed by knowing unique qualities about the time in question whether it be past, present or future. This is because each happening has a unique quality of vibration and characteristics, which distinguish it from all other times. Okay, this explanation needs another spiritual fact, and that is nothing is ever destroyed, it only changes it shape. This fact makes distance healing possible for past, present and future events.

Human Evolution Today

People today face a challenging evolutionary transformation because of increased vibration due to acceleration of the growing force and the effect it is having on our bodies. It seems our old human species is no longer suited to the new environment, and a transformation is being forced on us to metamorphosis into a new species. It is natural when near the end of a growth cycle that extra stress is put on organisms to transform. Signs of this today are increased disease, elevated stress and violence, change in ecosystems, and on the positive side spiritual awakenings in growing numbers of people.

Human evolution has been going on for thousands of years, and it is important to know that each generation of humanity has a higher level of self-realization. Today you can see this by more people experiencing spiritual awakening. As humans move through space-time by living successive lifetimes, our mass and vibration increases. Higher level of vibration is equivalent to higher level of self-realization. This change in our energetic vibration and awareness level through successive lifetimes is primarily stored in the DNA, which contains instructions for our physical growing. When our vibration reaches a certain threshold, it will trigger strands in our DNA to activate and human metamorphosis will follow. The accelerated evolutionary force we face today has the reason to raise our self-realization level. No matter where we are in our evolution, the current challenge we face gives everyone an opportunity to advance their self-realization level. The illnesses and difficulties can motivate us to find solutions and ways to heal. Human evolution equals rising self-realization, which in turn is the same as the healing and transformation process. Transformation is the same as the growing process and always results in increased self-awareness.

What causes Disease?

As the growing force increases, it puts stress on our existing physical structure. It is like our physical body reaches a point where it can no longer thrive in the increased vibratory field and starts to break down. This is a natural process of evolution. With every living thing, there is a pattern or birth, growing, maturation, reproduction, then decline and eventually death. After growing and reproduction, the physical form tends to be fixed in shape. While the growing force is still present and strong, it does not prevent decline because we become attached to our physical form. We block this force from healing and transforming us due to our attachment to our known and familiar self. The primary way we attach to our old self is by constant use of our mind-voice or thinking. When we do not let go of identification to our old self, this causes stress, fear, violence and disease because we are resisting transformative energy. After our growing energy has been depleted to create our form, the only thing left is to transform our shape or face decline. The higher the vibration of the universe and the more rigid our outer-self, the sicker we become. The truth is dark energy is abundant, instantly accessed and strong enough to heal us. To start the healing process we need information about healing, and then we need to practice and experience energy healing and believe it is possible! Once we believe it is possible and sample this abundant healing source, healing will happen. Then we will be convinced it is possible and will get the unexpected side-affect of higher self-realization, which will give us motivation to continue with it!  

Aspects of Self and Our Healing Potential

A living system is like being composed of two objects; there is the manifest part of our physical body and the part not manifest as our spirit or life force. Each is vibrating at a different rate. It is as if we have a strong perfect vibration deep inside us, but the physicality and structure of our body and personality that covers this, prevents the inside vibration from manifesting externally as a whole and perfectly ‘in the flesh’. The lower our physical level of vibration is, the more restricted the flow of energy is throughout our body and the sicker and less aware we are. The physical aspect of self is not our permanent or real aspect, rather it is our reflected visible aspect, it represents what we are currently capable to manifest given our self-knowledge and experience. Our potential is contained in our non-reflected invisible aspect, which is our soul, spirit or source energy. This vibration resonates as one with the vibration of dark energy. We can access this energy and be one with it by placing our attention away from our physical aspect. Our energy self is eternal and because we are intimately one with the dark energy field, we have on tap a vast resource of energy and information for healing and self-realization.

What Is An Energetic Block?

An energy block is an area in the body where energy has difficulty to move through which prevents healing of causes disease or injury to the area. Blockages have a direct link with a program of conditioned response in the mind for the use of this body section. From birth onwards, we accumulate thousands of energy blocks from experiences in the tissues of the body and mind. We create them by our initial response to events and subsequent tendency to respond to similar events in conditioned or programmed ways. We maintain energy blocks in various ways. We can unconsciously protect an area of the body that was hurt in the past to prevent experiencing pain in that area again. We make repetitive movements of facial and body expressions, which cause excessive strength in lines relating to those movements and weakness in areas of body not used. In our hectic lives we accumulate stress and muscle tension, and do not know how to release it daily. There is also inherited genetic disease, which is due to issues of self-evolution. The reasons for energy block creation are varied but there is one common factor of why they are persistent and this is due to our habitual use of our mind in a programmed way.

When our energy gets too low due to too many energy blocks, we will notice symptoms of disease being produced by our body, as it tries to correct the problem. When we have an illness or disease, this means our energy is not flowing through our body in an ideal way. If the energy were flowing ideally, we would have perfect health as the body always tries to maintain a homeostasis. An energy block will continue to exist until the habitual response is removed due to reprogramming of the mind. 

Healing Happens When Vibration Increases

Common to all therapies and treatments is healing happens when we have a surplus of energy, which is the same as an increase in vibration over our normal vibration level. This happens naturally in sleep each night. When we lie down and eventually sleep takes over, our mind rests and our vibration increases. While our mind is quiet healing takes place in the body and the mind reorganizes, which is the reason for dreams in the night. Many therapeutic treatments also increase our energy for healing to occur. Massage releases tension from muscles. Improved diet makes digestion more efficient and uses less energy to move our toxic substances. Taking supplements supplies material necessary for body repair. Exercise increases elasticity of muscle fibers, which increases efficiency of nervous energy moving through the body.

When we increase our energetic vibration by any method, it shakes us out of conditioned pattern of use of our energy, which is primarily trapped by conditioned use of the body by the mind. When vibration increases, our mind goes quiet in moments and healing in mind happens, where the root of the problem lies. The mind healing essentially removes an energy block by reorganizing the mind. After the mind reorganizes, then physical healing takes place in the body with the growth of new cells with the new energetic organization. 

While any therapy can have this effect, the most effective healing happens when the mind goes still for long periods. Quiet mind happens naturally in sleep at night, but when a person has low energy, there is not enough time in quiet mind at night to get profound healing. Mostly there is only enough time to clean up the current day’s damage and degeneration continues. Meditation practice is the best way to attain sustained quiet mind. Once we know this to be true, there only remains the task to practice mediation and learn how to quiet the mind at will. When we detach from our mind, by not using our mind-voice to animate our personality, then our energetic vibration dramatically rises. Using our energy to animate the personality takes a huge amount of source energy. When we stop that activity, our energetic vibration immediately jumps and healing accelerates as well our self-realization level.

Transformation & Healing

Dark energy is equivalent to invisible light. Because we have light inside us, when we get still, here is no sense of time because we have matched the speed of light, because we are now being as one with light. A fact of physics states that at the speed of light, transformation from matter to energy physically happens. When we are as one with the source of light by being still, then transformation from matter to energy physically happens and our vibration increases and we become more aware. In the space of being still, transformation, healing and metamorphosis happens. Being still is the meditative state, and when we achieve it, we change. Distance healing is a very effective therapy because through the principle of entraining to the vibration of the master healer, it puts the person being healed into this still state that causes transformation and healing.

We all have the Potential to be healers

Dark energy is all around and inside everyone. Everyone has access to it and has the potential to be a healer. I would go so far as to say every human will eventually become a healer, because self-healing is a necessary step to reach further steps in evolution. Everything is energy, humans are energy beings and all problems can be corrected energetically. The roots of human problems are attachment to material forms, or the visible world, which has the inherent problem to hide or veil our energetic reality. Our main physical attachment is to our ability to self-reflect by using our mind and then reacting emotionally from what we are thinking. This creates an illusion of an activated physical entity, or ‘personality’. It is this illusion we generate with use of our mind and emotions that we are primarily attached. The longer we stay attached to generation and interaction with this illusion, the sicker we become. Ultimately, only an individual has the power to stop the habit of using their mind-voice to activate the personality, by using their will power, focus and skills of concentration to withdraw energy away from using the mind in this way. The more an individual practices doing this, the more mental clarity, emotional calmness, increased vitality and awareness they will develop. Eventually self-realization will be strong enough, that we will willingly accept the challenge to fully heal ourselves and will gladly do our daily mediation.

Healing Happens in a Natural Order

Energy healing is an effective therapy for any physical, mental, emotional or spiritual condition. It can easily be combined with conventional therapies with no negative side effects and addresses healing of the root cause of the issue. Healing is actually done by our own internal healer, which has a wisdom we cannot fathom. Healing occurs in a natural order, where our healer determines how to use an energy boost to heal what is most important for our survival. We do not need to direct energy in any particular way, we can trust that our internal healer knows perfectly what to heal and in what order. Having observed many healing processes, it is natural that your body will work first to clean out toxins and congestions in the lymph and organs and then to activate energy centers on the spine known as chakras, as this is the quickest way to ramp up your own energetic vibration to accelerate healing. Cleansing nearly always happens first and is a good thing, because in later healings it is necessary to have an open functioning and strong elimination system to remove larger amounts of toxins and heal deeper issues.

Establish the Habit of Daily Healing

In our stressful times and increasingly toxic world, it is important that people incorporate healing into their daily lives, just like brushing our teeth to prevent cavities. Daily healing activities will help maintain mental clarity, emotional stability, vibrant health and awareness. The basics of healing is healing happens when the mind is quiet, so finding a way to settle the mind each day is the most important thing we can practice. The proven and age-old practice of sitting meditation is very effective. With this practice, you learn how to turn off the mind-voice and deactivate animation of the personality. In the space you achieve quiet mind by doing this, your vibration increases and energy blocks heal. Each second of quiet mind is precious as energy moves fast, so there is great healing potential in even a second. As you practice, your ability to sustain quiet mind and your awareness level will increase. Therefore, each day you start out stronger than the day before. Another effective tool is learning energy self-healing. If you continue like this, you will fully heal yourself of all problems and then you will be able to help others heal.

Energy Healing Happens via Entrainment

Energy healing happens due to the principle of entrainment. From physics, we know that everything vibrates. From Newton’s Laws of motion we know when two objects meet each other, the vibrations of the two objects will synchronize with each other. The object with higher vibration will slow down and the object with slower vibration will speed up, until the two synchronize with each other and ‘meet’ to establish ‘a line of communication’. This synchronization process is known as entrainment and only takes a few minutes. After this, the vibration in both objects will accelerate from their synchronized ‘meeting point’, as long as the objects stay in contact with each other. It is like two energies merging into one stronger force and each person feels vibration increase.

As vibration increases, it excites nerve cells and increases energetic flow through all tissues of the body and especially muscle nerve cells. Muscles are elastic tissues, which have the ability to do work in the body by opening areas with blocked or stagnant energy flows. Vibration in the body can be physically felt and electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by muscles. Increasing vibration means healing is happening in both objects, as excitation is opening areas of stagnant energy flow to ‘raise’ the vibration to a higher level. As vibration increases, it shakes people out of their conditioned habit of using their energy to animate their personality, their mind quiets and they receive a healing in the mind.

A skilled healer has the ability to put a person into a deep state of quiet mind for a longer period, thereby providing the opportunity for a clear shot to cure the root cause of any condition, which exists primarily in the mind. Now, I will tell you a secret. The physical object with the strongest energetic vibration you can entrain to (on earth) is another human being. A person who has healed themselves can greatly increase another person’s energetic vibration, because their own vibration is higher than most. Getting healings from such a person can give you a large boost to help you heal the cause of your problem and to elevate your self-realization level.

How Does Energy Healing Work?

Energy healing heals at the energetic level, which is what makes it a very valuable healing method, because energetic flow or imbalance is the cause of physical problem. It works by removing energy blocks and reorganizing the mind and nervous system. It is like opening up an energy channel that previously had low energy flow. As energy channels are opened it increases the overall energy level of the person being healed and allows internal energy to get to the area to heal the physical problem. The actual healing is done by the person’s own body; it is not done by the healer. The healer is only the catalyst to elevate the person’s vibration through entrainment, to create the ideal condition for the reorganization to happen. The physical change is later manifested as healed tissue in the mind and body, and becomes apparent when the cells replenish with new growth. Because an energy healing changes the underlying energy flow, it can produce healing effects for many months afterwards.

How is Distant Healing Done?

Distance energy healing works just like an in-person healing with a few minor differences. To accomplish entrainment with an in-person healing, a person simply puts their hands above or on the body. With distant-healing, contact is established with a clear reference to the person, place or thing, which includes a date and time. The clear reference is a unique ‘identifying’ source vibration, such as a photo, name, geographical location, birth date or an object the person once held. A distance healing can happen in any time simply with the healer’s intention because all times exist at the same time, sort of like there exist many parallel universes. Each individual has a unique vibration depending on the timeframe, as every living being is changing each second we are alive. The individual characteristics plus the timeframe and location creates a unique ‘identifying’ signature vibration, which a distant healer can tune into and connect with. Given the flexibility of the time parameter, distance energy healings can be given for past, present or future times.

The healer first activates their vibration to raise it to a high level. Next, the distance healer states their intention for the healing, which is normally a request from the person being healed. This sets an intention for the exchange of energy for the healing session. Then the distance healer requests a connection with the person, place or animal using the unique identifiers and requested time. In reality there is actually no distance between us and another person, we are directly connected though the pool of dark energy. It is only visually that the world seems solid and we get the sense of being separated objects in time and space. With practice, energetic connection is easily made between distant objects through the field of dark energy. Next, the healer trusts their intention is set and then tunes into feeling the energy moving in their body and enters into a meditative state. The synchronization process of entrainment can be felt as a pulling and pushing force as the connection between the people establishes. It is like the synchronization of a large wave. This is like establishing a physical link or cord between the healer and the other being and only takes a minute or so. After the link is established, there are several different ways to give distance healings. What I do is visualize myself as the person I am connected with and give an energy healing to my own body using reiki and acupressure techniques using my intuition as needed. As the distance healing goes on, vibration in both healer and person being healed increases and progresses through a natural cycle. The strongest vibration is generated around the forty-five minute mark and energy typically is working strongly at this time in the mind with the most profound healing.

Some people are very sensitive to an energetic healing and feel much and others are not and feel little to nothing. You do not have to be able to feel working energy in a session for it to be effective, it is working whether you feel it or not. Ability to sense energy vibration increases with a higher awareness level. After a healing people often feel highly energized and refreshed. It is normal not to be able to sleep the first night after a healing, as the nervous system is highly energized. Even with a restless sleep, people awaken in the morning feeling very rested. After the session is complete, the healer requests that the connection that was established be disconnected to end the healing. 

Advantages of Distant Energy Healing

When in contact with a person locally, there is more resistance to being healed. Being physically touched creates reactions and resistance itself. It is hard for people to fully relax and be meditative while being physically touched and in the presence of another person. Distance healing can be much stronger than in person energy healing, because a person can relax more. When there is contact at a distance, there is much less personal resistance thus the body vibration can rise much higher as the person is not diverting any energy to ‘protect themselves’ and healing is more effective. A second reason why distance healing can be stronger than in person healing is the healer can maintain a deeper state of concentration and state of quiet mind, because there are fewer distractions, resulting in a higher level of vibration, which has more healing potential.

Distance healing can be very effective for healing all kinds of problems such as headaches, colds, helping people recover from operations or traumatic events, preventing illness, boost energy when facing stressful events, healing past events, healing pets and healing any kind of mental, emotional or physical problem. It is also very effective to increase self-awareness level so distance healing is a type of shaktipat and useful for any spiritual seeker who wants to increase their awareness level. Every day distance healing is becoming more widely accepted into mainstream viewpoints about its effectiveness as more people experience it’s benefits. Energy healing is a skill I encourage everyone to sample, learn, explore, and bring into their daily life for maintaining vibrant health and acute awareness.

Vertical Jump

The ability to jump vertically is an advantage in many sports. As a result there are many athletes who would like to jump higher. Jump training (also called vertical leap training) is promoted as an effective way to increase the height of your vertical jump. However, some people just seem to be able to jump high naturally. So what role do your genetics versus jump training play when it comes to your vertical leap? Well there are several important factors that affect the height of your vertical leap.

Body structure – Bones

While most athletes have 2 arms and 2 legs, there are important structural differences between individuals that are largely determined by your genetics. For example, genetic factors affect the speed and timing of your bone growth during your teenage years. This has an impact on your overall height, the length of your limbs, the length of your torso relative to you legs, the proportion of the length of your femur (thigh bone) to tibia (shin bone) and other factors that affect the height of your vertical leap. No amount of training will improve your bone structure to allow you to jump higher.

Body structure – Muscles and Nervous system

The height you are able to jump is dependent on your body’s ability to exert explosive force to propel you into the air. Your muscles and nervous systems are central to this ability. You may have heard of ‘fast twitch’ and ‘slow twitch’ muscle fibres. An Olympic sprinter will most likely have a high proportion of fast twitch to slow twitch ratio, perhaps 90% fast twitch, 10% slow twitch. An Olympic marathon runner is likely to have the opposite (many slow twitch, few fast twitch). Everyone has at least some fast twitch and some slow twitch muscle fibres. Genetics play an important role in the proportion of each. Having more fast twitch fibres is an advantage for exerting the explosive force required to leap vertically.

Training effects – Yes can jump higher!

However, with the correct type of training, it is certainly possible to improve the height of your vertical jump no matter how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ your genetics are. While training will not give you more fast twitch fibres, it will help you make the ones you have more powerful! The explosive power required for a high vertical leap is dependent on strength and speed which can be influenced by training.

Lifting weights as part of a standard strength training program at the gym may give you strength but not speed. Working on speed drills alone may give you a bit of extra speed, but without the power to propel you body into the air, speed alone is not enough.

Then what type of jump training should I use?

What is the best protein shake for weight loss? Building muscle? Overall health?

In this article I will be comparing a few of the most popular protein shakes in terms of ingredients, cost, and taste. I will focus on a few of the most well known brands, most of which also have an income opportunity attached, but I will focus solely on the product itself, not the business.

First of all let’s explore Isagenix.

Isagenix is a multi level marketing company whose main products are it’s protein shakes. Having tried them myself, I can verify that the shake are very tasty. Even my kids like them and that is saying a lot because they don’t like too many of the shakes I have tried. Isagenix shakes come in creamy french vanilla, dutch chocolate, black sesame, natural berry harvest, and strawberry cream. Isagenix claims to use a very high quality whey protein isolate that is natural and free from pesticides. They claim to be a very healthy shake, despite the fact that each serving contains 16 grams of sugar. Perhaps that is why my kids like them so much.

The cost of a 14 serving canister is approximately $52 plus taxes and shipping so most people would need 2 canisters per month. If you sign up as a distributor you get each canister for around $40 plus tax and shipping. Isagenix promotes a ’30 day cleanse’ and you will find a ton of success stories from people using Isagenix all over the internet.

The main pros for Isagenix are its high quality whey and the taste.

The cons are the high sugar content and the lack of other ‘superfood’ ingredients.

Next let’s look at Shakeology by BeachBody.

BeachBody changed their marketing to into a network marketing structure in 2007 after many years of success through infomercials. Their name is well known mostly for it’s fitness programs like P90X and Insanity. The ingredients in Shakeology are very high quality and many of them are considered superfoods. To source all these ingredients separately would be extremely expensive. Overall, the protein content and the nutritional content are exceptional, and one look at the ingredients list will impress anyone in the health industry.

The cost of a 30 day supply is $119, making it the most expensive of the brands. But as a ‘coach’, you would receive 25% off plus free shipping. It cost’s $15/month extra to be a coach with BeachBody in order to maintain the discount. When you look at it that way, the monthly cost for Shakeology including taxes and all fees would be around $120 which is almost the same as just buying it retail.

However, despite the high cost, many people who are conscious of ingredients choose Shakeology. In terms of taste it’s one of my favourites. And my kids love it.

BeachBody also offers some well known fitness programs like P90X, Brazilian Butt Lift, Insanity, and TurboFire, that go along with their weight loss incentives. They promote nutrition, good eating, plus exercise to lose weight, and like Isagenix and most other shakes, you will find tons of success stories with Shakeology.

The pros of Shakelogy are the superior, wholefoods based ingredients that are nutritionally dense.

The only con would be the cost.

Another great shake, that is slightly off the radar because the company’s main focus is skin care, is the Arbonne Essentials shakes.

The Arbonne shake uses a mix of pea protein as it’s main protein source. Most people don’t realize that pea protein provides a good pre-workout energy boost as well as post workout muscle recovery. It also contains a similar amino acid profile to whey protein but is particularly high in lysine, phenylalaline, and arginine. Pea protein digests much easier than whey and does not contain any lactose or gluten, and that means no bloating. It also means it’s good for anyone with allergies or sensitivities.

Beyond the pea protein, the Arbonne shake contains rice protein, flax seed, panax ginseng, cranberry, kelp powder to name a few, as well as all the essential minerals.

The Arbonne shakes costs $85 retail for a 30 days supply but you have the option of getting it at 20% off by becoming a preferred client. It cost’s $24 to become a preferred client.

The bottom line when choosing the best protein shake for you is to look at the ingredients first to ensure you are getting everything you need, make sure you like the taste, and that it fits into your budget. Combine your shake of choice with a healthy diet and good exercise routine, and you will be on your way to a healthier, happier, lifestyle. You may have to try a few to find one you like the best but hopefully this review should help you narrow that down.

As a strength and conditioning specialist I have to say that the kettlebell snatch is my personal favorite in all the kettlebell lifts that can be performed. If you want to know why this lift is so valuable then permit yourself a minute to tune in and continue reading this article. I have trained many athletes and many folks that are serious about fitness and this single lift proves to be beneficial for all of them!

Benefits Of The Kettlebell Snatch Lift!

1. Develops Explosive Power: I have trained many athletes ranging from football players to MMA fighters and I always say that if you are looking to run really fast or want to have the ability to punch someone really hard then the kettlebell snatch is the lift for you! Thats right, kettlebell snatches are terrific for the development of your core center which enables you to perform physical activities such as running, jumping, and yes even punching at a higher level. By performing this lift you must have sound technique in lifting the bell from either the ground or from a swinging action to a locked out position above your head. By performing this lift you are integrating the use of your shoulders, hips, glutes, abdominals, lats, hamstrings, and calves to soundly elevate the bell in a smooth efficient manner during the snatch lift.

This kettlebell exercise is terrific for the muscles of your posterior chain which us strength and conditioning professionals like to refer to as your “performance muscles!” The beauty of this lift is that you are forced to train a certain movement pattern to execute it rather than relying on trying to segment a specific body part. Your muscles must work together in a synergistic harmony in order to move the bell in a continuous manner. I like to think of this lift as being a hybrid type of an olympic lift. If you want to perform you have got to include snatches into your training routine.

2. Improves Shoulder Stability: I am a firm believer in overhead lifts. It baffles me when I hear some strength coaches and trainers say that they don’t believe in overhead lifting because of the danger of injuring the shoulder joint. This is a ridiculous mindset because the shoulders are placed under tremendous stress when an athlete engages in physical competition. The only way to strengthen the shoulder joint and all the stabilizing muscles that surround is by performing overhead lifts. Now it is true that most any lift performed incorrectly can potentially injure you, but so can any other exercise if it is performed incorrectly. Overhead snatches are hugely beneficial in allowing the shoulder to strengthen and even improve with mobility which is essential for athletic performance. Any restriction in mobility or strength in the shoulder while performing an athletic feat like a baseball pitcher throwing a fast ball can lead to injury. Strengthen your shoulders by developing them through the kettlebell snatch.

3. Unmatched Cardiovascular Conditioning: Once again, if you feel that your technique is sound in this lift then you can structure your workouts differently to achieve a different result. The beauty of this lift is that if you can perform sets of high repetitions or for a designated amount of time then you will see just why the cardiovascular benefit of it is so great! I don’t think that their is any other lift I can perform that revs my heart rate up faster than this lift. By performing 20 or 30 reps at a time of kettlebell snatches you are exerting your body from head to toe and your heart has to work like crazy to keep up with providing your body with the blood supply it needs to keep moving. The imposed demands that this lift places on your body is serious for the development of your cardiovascular output. If you want to achieve a high level of conditioning within the confines of your strength program then this lift is for you!

Feel free to access more of my material on this and many other effective strength and conditioning tactics if you want to improve your performance. Take the time to learn how to train correctly if you want to succeed. I’ll be glad to help any way that I can. Remember that most any athlete can train hard, but only the champions train smart my friend.

Rheumatoid arthritis is also classified as an autoimmune disease (immune cells attack the body’s own healthy tissues). The joints are primarily affected by rheumatoid arthritis, but there can be systemic effects (i.e. Researchers have worked for years to find the cause of the abnormal autoimmune response associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has long been associated with work disability. Older studies have concluded that as many as 50% of people with RA for 10 years or more have been forced to stop working.

Osteoarthritis is the most recognizable form of arthritis touching 16-20 million inhabitants of the United States alone. Osteoarthritis (OA) originates with the decomposition of cartilage in joints, resulting in joint pain.

Treatment for joint pain include resting to allow the injury to heal. Warm baths and ice also reduce the swelling and provide some relief. Treatment only relieves the pain temporarily. Conventional painkillers have side effects. Treatment of Arthritis in the thumb depends on the symptoms and the stage of the disease. Some arthritic thumbs may be relieved with an aspirin.

Healthy diet is important, so try to eat a balanced diet, take lots of vegetables, fruits, fish high in Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamins C, E and folic acid. Avoid cigarettes, alcohol, coffee and tea.

Joint pain is a chronic medical condition that can affect anyone. The pain is usually accompanied by a feeling of stiffness in the affected joint in conjunction with redness and fever. Joint Power Rx could be an excellent solution because this formula includes many added herbal extracts and nutrients that are key in joint health.

Exercise used as one of the rheumatoid arthritis natural remedies includes performing aerobic exercises such as walking, dancing, or swimming. Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet and normal body weight. Also, you should get regular checkups.

Studies have shown that exercise helps people with arthritis in many ways. Exercise reduces joint pain and stiffness and increases flexibility, muscle strength, cardiac fitness, and endurance.

Alternative and natural treatments have gained popularity and serve as a complement to traditional therapies. Some treatments get little respect regarding their efficacy, compounded by warnings for potential drug interactions and side effects. Alternate hot and cold applications will give relief to swollen and painful joints.

Glucosamine is a substance that appears in the human system naturally. There are supplements of this natural cure for arthritis on the market, and some people have found relief by using this remedy. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are natural substances that are part of the building blocks found in and around cartilage. Extracts from animal products have been used in Europe for more than a decade to reduce pain and improve mobility in patients with osteoarthritis.

Fruit and vegetables, with their antioxidant activity, usually exert an anti-inflammatory effect. Other natural arthritis remedies include the herb white willow, for pain management.

I haven’t always been someone who eats healthy. I was raised in the days of TV dinners on trays, sitting in front of Gilligan’s Island in the TV room with my three siblings. Good nutrition and eating healthy may come easily to some, but for the rest of us, it may be a gradual progression of steps.

My family rarely visited or spoke during dinner. Commercials were reserved for running into the kitchen to get more milk. For variety, we would have canned SpaghettiOs, or Campbell’s soup with grilled cheese. Healthy wasn’t a concept that entered into my mind when eating. The goals were good taste and ease of preparation.

This changed when, at nineteen, I took a class on values clarification. The instructor had us assess what our values were by looking at where we were putting our time and energy, and considering what was most important to ourselves. I realized there was a huge contrast between my desire to be healthy and the food choices I was making.

Many of my peers were making their own granola, yogurt and growing vegetables to eat. The “hip” thing was to be a vegetarian. I wanted to be doing these sorts of things, but instead I was eating junk. So, at twenty I became a vegetarian… and started consuming vast amounts of dairy, wheat, and sugar. This phase was, perhaps healthier than the processed food, but it was still essentially lacking in nutrition.

This period was followed by getting married, having four children and wanting them to be as healthy as possible. I call this the tofu stage. I put tofu in almost every dish I made and packed tofu dogs in the kid’s lunches. I felt proud to be raising 4 vegetarian children in a society full of carnivores. Tofu and dairy competed for my attention. Our family favorites, after tofu, were bean and cheese burritos, and macaroni and cheese. To this day none of my four grown children will eat tofu!

I was, indeed, pretty ignorant about healthy eating. Fortunately for my family, I began teaching kindergarten at the private school that my children attended. The school was part of a spiritual yoga community that provided healthy vegetarian food. Things like, brown rice, steamed veggies, fresh salads, and homemade breads and soups were offered every day. Suddenly, my spectrum of healthy foods had many colors and textures and my kids were exposed to a new way of eating. They loved the healthy new foods and so did I.

This period was followed by divorce and the craziness of single-parenting four children. Time became limited, money was tight and priorities had to change. Once again, healthy food choices gave way to convenience and price. I rarely shopped at the local health food store and often filled in the gaps with pizzas, quesadillas, and canned beans. I assigned a night for each child to cook, and our meals were simple and filling. Flour, rice, beans, and pasta were at the top of the menu. Fresh vegetables cost too much so I bought frozen veggies sincerely thinking I was feeding the kids good food.

Fortunately, my awareness of what is genuinely healthy and nutritional food has changed. These days, my children are all grown and I am living on my own. I can afford to buy and choose what I want, and I have continued to evolve my own diet.

Three-and-a-half years ago, I gave up dairy and gluten to get rid of my eczema problem. Then, just 9 months ago, I gave up sugar and chocolate as well. I now have an awareness of the adverse effects of GMO foods on the body, and have started buying organic as much as possible. I see that I am a slow learner when it comes to health and nutrition. But, gradually over time, I have been able to incorporate improvements into my food choices. This transition is happening bit by bit and I am reaping the benefits of my improved healthier diet. My head is clearer, I have more energy, my health is excellent and I feel good about what I eat. Having moved away from processed food, I find that food in its natural state tastes even better.

Who knows, perhaps for the next step, I will become a raw food connoisseur? I encourage you, wherever you are in your dietary choices, to be open to the changes that can bring the priceless gifts of good health and well-being.

Scurvy (N.Lat scorbutus) is a deficiency disease, caused by lack of vitamin C, which is required for collagen (an element of normal tissues) synthesis in humans. The chemical name of vitamin C is ascorbic acid, which is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus. Vitamin C is found mainly in fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly citrus fruits such as oranges, olives, lemon, sweet lemon. Reduction in intake of Vitamin C rich food products, leads to scurvy.

History of the disease:

Scurvy historically affected mostly those nations, which were dependent more on military power. During military campaigns and long ocean voyages, food consumed by the ship crewmembers largely lacked in fresh fruits and vegetables, thus causing inadequacy of Vitamin C and leading to outbreak of scurvy epidemics.

The first clue to the treatment of scurvy occurred during Jacques Cartier’s arrival in Newfoundland in 1536, when he was advised by the native Indians to give his crewmembers, who were dying from this epidemic, a potion made from spruce tree needles. The foliage, rich in vitamin C, cured most members of Cartier’s crew.

What are the symptoms of scurvy?

Symptoms of Scurvy include one or any of the following –

o Swollen, blackened and bleeding gums with loosened teeth.

o Soreness and stiffness of the joints and lower extremities

o Bleeding under the skin and in deep tissues

o Anaemia

o Wounds that don’t heal, and scar tissue from old wounds dissolve causing reopening of wounds

o Tiredness and weakness, along with muscle cramps

o Appearance of tiny red blood-blisters to large purplish blemishes on the skin of the legs.

Who are more at risk of contracting Scurvy?

Scurvy is common in persons who follow a very restricted diet especially lacking in ascorbic acid, or who are under extreme physiological stress or are chronic alcoholics. Infants can also develop scurvy if they are devoid of mother’s milk, and switched to top-up milk, without providing sufficient Vitamin C supplements. Babies of mothers who take extremely high doses of vitamin C during pregnancy may also develop infantile scurvy.

Treatment for Scurvy:

Increase in intake of fresh vegetables and fruits, especially citrus fruits are necessary to treat scurvy. Additionally, adults need to consume around 300-1,000 mg of ascorbic acid per day and 50mg/day in case of infants to effectively treat the disease.

Since the body does not produce vitamin C, it must be obtained from fruits and vegetables. Some excellent sources of vitamin C are oranges, olives, guava, green peppers, watermelon, papaya, strawberry, kiwi fruit, mango, honey, mango powder, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, and citrus juices or juices fortified with Vitamin C.

Amla or the Indian gooseberry is one of the richest sources of Vitamin C, whether fresh or the dried, powdered form.

Raw and cooked leafy greens (turnip, spinach), red and green peppers, fresh tomatoes, potatoes, pineapple are also rich sources of Vitamin C.

Vitamin C is sensitive to light, air, and heat, so it is best to eat fruits and vegetables raw, or minimally cooked in order to retain their full vitamin C content.

Treatment of Scurvy with vitamin C is usually successful, if the deficiency is recognized early enough. If left untreated, the condition can even cause death.

Preventive diet for Scurvy:

For Infants –

The most important factor in the prevention and treatment of scurvy is proper feeding of mother’s milk, atleast for the initial six months. After birth, all children should preferable be breast-fed because it is pure and fresh and contains most of the nutrients necessary for the growth and development of the baby. If, for any reason, it is not possible to breast-feed the baby, then cow’s milk or commercially available milk should be supplemented with vitamin C.

For Adults

A well balanced diet plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of scurvy in adults. The patient should take a well-balanced diet consisting of grains, seeds, nuts, fresh vegetables and fruit. This diet should always be supplemented with milk, eggs, fruits and honey.

Recommended Vitamin C intake:

Scurvy is rare in countries where intake of fresh fruits and vegetables is more. The Vitamin C present in them acts as important antioxidant, thus enhancing the development of connective tissues, lipid and vitamin metabolism, immune function and wound healing.

Currently, the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin C is

o For adults: 50-60 mg/day;

o For infants: 35 mg/day;

o For pregnant women: 100 mg/day

o Lactating mothers: 150 mg/day

However, requirement for vitamin C increases when a person is under stress, smoking, or under some medication.

Although rare, but scurvy remains a malaise condition that is still prevalent in the pediatric population, especially among certain groups with unusual eating habits. A heightened awareness towards intake of Vitamin C rich foods is required to prevent a potentially fatal, but easily curable disease.

Thus, take the suggestion – “An orange a day keeps scurvy away.”